Dreams Should Remain Unreal
by Ainulin
Summary: Ienzo Zexion has a dream about a crazed blonde haired woman. His friends think he is insane. Is he? Follow the story as Alex and Myde try to find help for Ienzo. Slight blood/gore. Alex Axel; Myde Demyx


**Yay! A new story! For all of you who have been asking yourselves, "Why hasn't she been updating??" Well, this was the reason! Finally, it is complete! :) I think I might do a sequel as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that.**

**Anyway, my friend Kenthel and I wanted to compete against each other to see who could write the better fanfic, but she won't be done for a while because she has gone on vacation. So, in order to get this out of the way and to start writing again, I'm posting this now. If you all would be so kind, after you read this, please review and give it a rating out of 10. And PLEASE, keep checking up on my profile to see when Kenthel posts her story, because you will have to do the same for hers. Thank you for your help!**

**And now, enjoy!**

* * *

_He looked down upon a dark room. Nothing could be seen. Footsteps and a dragging sound could be heard coming towards the place Ienzo was watching; wooden stairs. A metal door opened slowly, letting light into the room. The room was smaller than Ienzo anticipated. The light seemed to make the walls shine, whether because they were made that way or because they were wet, he knew not. The air possessed a fog or mist, indicating to Ienzo that the room was very cold; it could have been a freezer or simply a cold basement or something similar. Perhaps it was winter outside_

_A blonde haired woman walked into the room, dragging another littler person with her. The blonde's front hairs stuck straight back at an odd angle, making Ienzo wonder if she styled her hair that way on purpose. She wore dark blue jeans that clung tightly to her body, with an equally clingy, blood-red long sleeve shirt to match. The person, rather, the child she had dragged into the room, was not suitably dressed to be in such a cold climate. He wore a small, yellow, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves that didn't close. (It is like a button-down over shirt guys wear without buttoning it, but without the buttons and the under shirt.) His shorts were navy blue, with the right leg being about five inches longer than the left. He had on green sandals. His brown hair, along with the rest of him, was covered in dirt, and Ienzo could see a few cuts and bruises on the poor child._

_The woman roughly dropped the child onto the floor. The little boy landed with a small 'thud', then quickly scuttled away from her. Once he deemed that he was far enough away, he sat up and stared at the woman with fear in his eyes._

"_Wakka," the woman stated while looking into the room._

_Ienzo followed her gaze, and to his surprise, there was someone else in the room! A man with messy red hair, and a crooked blue bandana tied around his forehead was definitely not dressed for this situation either. He wore yellow and black pants that stopped about three inches above his ankles and black sandals that wrapped around the front of his leg and the back of his hell to keep them in place. His shirt was yellow and had what could be compared to black suspender straps holding it up. The bottom was split into two, revealing his muscular stomach. He sat near the wall, but did not lean against it. He held his knees close to his chest and rubbed his arms slowly with shaking white fingers. His lips were blue, and his teeth chattered so much that his whole jaw moved. Wakka was a shivering mess; Ienzo had to look away because of the pang in his heart that he felt for the man._

_Wakka looked up at the woman with a hateful stare. His mouth had stopped forming words a while ago, so he didn't even bother trying to reply now._

"_Have you learned your lesson yet, Wakka?" the blonde asked the shaking man innocently._

_His eyes narrowed. The woman seemed to pity him. "If that's how you want it to be then."_

_Wakka stared up at the woman with wide eyes as she walked over to where the child had taken shelter from her. The little boy was already shivering slightly when the woman grabbed hold of him and hoisted him up off the ground. She slowly walked over to stand in front of Wakka. The brown-haired child was terrified. Wakka tried to beg the woman with his eyes, but she was staring intently at the boy._

"_So Tidus, how do you think I could get your friend here to learn?" she asked sweetly._

_Tidus stared fearfully at the woman with his bright blue eyes._

"_Nothing? Aw, well that's a shame, because I can think of one-" she tightened her grip as her voice hardened, "-good-" she pulled a knife from seemingly out of nowhere, "-idea."_

_In one quick, fluid motion, the knife was at Tidus' neck. He whimpered in fright. "Wakka!" Tidus whispered._

"_N-n-n-n," faintly came from Wakka's as he tried to get the woman's attention._

_She looked over at Wakka, head tilted to the side curiously. Very slowly, Wakka put his frozen hands beneath himself and tried to stand. After three failed attempts, he finally got onto his feet. Hunched over because of the cold, he took a step with his wobbly legs towards the woman and held out a trembling arm. Ienzo could see Wakka pleading with his eyes, but the woman pretended not to notice. "Yes, Wakka?"_

_A frustrated expression washed over his face, and the woman smirked. Wakka looked as if he was trying very hard to form this sentence, "P-p-pl-s-s-s-s d-d-dn't hrt-t-t hm-m-m."_

_Ienzo's heart broke. __**Please, don't hurt him.**_

_Apparently, the woman wasn't moved._

_Ienzo and Wakka both flinched as the woman slit Tidus' throat. Blood splattered onto Wakka as the boy's scream turned into a gurgle. The woman dropped the blue-eyed child, a pool of blood forming quickly._

"_Sorry, didn't catch that. What did you say, Wakka?" she asked with a wicked smile on her face._

_Ienzo could feel tears prickling his eyes as Wakka's knees buckled. The malicious woman turned on her heels and calmly left the room. Tears streamed down Wakka's face as he went to touch Tidus…_

He woke; sweat dripped down his pale face, plastering his blue hair to his forehead and cheek. As his body shook, Ienzo stared at the ceiling with wide eyes and tried to control his breathing. He wiped his eyes and forehead with a trembling hand. That dream, that nightmare, seemed so real to him. Separating himself from his tangled sheets, he slowly sat up and held his head in his hands.

What was Wakka supposed to be learning? Who was that woman? Why did she kill Tidus? Where are they? Was that even real? Am I losing my mind? Am I going insane?

These thoughts went through Ienzo's head at a rapid pace, threatening to drive him insane, or at least have him throw up until he heard the door creak open. Looking up, he saw his best friend and house-mate, Alex, enter the bedroom.

"Come on, sleepy!" Alex exclaimed as he walked in. "I swear, if we didn't live together, you'd never be anywhere on time!"

"I'd also get a decent amount of sleep every night," Ienzo retorted.

It would be better just to act normal, he thought.

"Ah, touché," Alex smiled. "Well, you better hurry up; we're gonna miss the bus."

Ienzo nodded as he rose from the bed. Alex started to leave, but then thought twice about it. Turning half-way around, he asked, "Are you alright, Ienzo?"

Smirking, Ienzo replied, "Why wouldn't I be? Am I suddenly afraid of clothes, or my bed?"

Alex laughed, "Well, there was that one time where you were so drunk that-"

"OK! Ok, I get it! I'm fine, Alex."

Alex smiled, "Alright. Hurry up." Then he left.

Normally, Ienzo didn't drink. That incident Alex was talking about was the reason why. Ienzo didn't even remember what happened that night. He remembered Alex dragging him along to a party, saying he needed more of a "social life," and he remembered waking up in the morning with a blistering headache and a raging boner. Needless to say, Alex relentlessly taunted him for two weeks after, and still did occasionally. Ienzo was also, strangely enough, frightened by women's sweaters for the longest time.

Slowly, Ienzo stood up and made his way to the bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water, both to wake himself up and forget the nightmare. He was surprised that Alex barely registered anything was wrong. Ienzo always knew when Alex wasn't well, but that might be because he was very observant. Apparently, Alex wasn't as vigilant. Not that it bothered Ienzo; Alex was better off not knowing. Ienzo wasn't even sure if he wanted Alex to know.

After brushing his teeth, he looked at himself in the mirror as he ran his fingers through his hair to put it in some semblance of order. Once he was as satisfied as he could be with the result, he walked out of the bathroom and towards the closet. Picking out a simple, black, long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans; he sat down on the bed and put them on. He was tying his shoes when Alex yelled, "Ienzo, hurry!"

"I'm coming!" he replied.

He shoved a few notebooks and books that were on his desk into the knapsack lying next to it, pulled on the light jacket that had been hanging on the chair behind the desk, and threw the strap of the knapsack over his shoulder. Finally being ready, he shut off the light with the switch next to the door and made his way down the stairs to Alex.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Alex exclaimed as he threw Ienzo a red apple.

Ienzo caught it deftly. "Let's go! We're gonna be late!"

"Calm down, Alex," reasoned Ienzo. "We have five minutes to get there. Relax."

Alex sighed, picked up his bag, and walked out the door. Ienzo followed as he took a bite out of the apple. It was ripe and juicy.

The blue-haired boy walked next to the red-head, taking in the daily scenery. The sun wasn't up yet. At this time of the year, the sun didn't rise until an hour from when they got onto the bus. A cool breeze whipped through Ienzo's hair, moving it only slightly. He was glad that he was wearing his jacket, because he thought he'd be cold otherwise. Axel, on the other hand, strolled casually next to Ienzo in a tight, navy blue, long sleeved shirt; and he seemed fine.

The two passed by a number of houses as they walked down the sidewalk. The first was cream colored and one story tall, with trees littering the yard. The second was a two story, blue house with a white front door. The houses beyond were all small apartment complexes, most made of brick with glass doors. The buildings became closer together as the two continued on, and a rock wall gradually arose.

Like Ienzo said, five minutes later, they were at the bus stop. As they approached, a boy who was an inch or two shorter than Ienzo approached them. He had blonde hair and bright, beautiful blue eyes. He wore light blue jeans in contrast to Alex's dark ones, with a navy blue tee shirt with a black sweatshirt unzipped over it.

"Hi Myde!" Alex called out as he waved.

"Hi Alex," Myde replied in turn. "Hi Ienzo."

"Hey," Ienzo shyly responded, looking down at his feet. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. You?" asked Myde.

"I'm alright," lied Ienzo; he was still thinking about his dream.

Myde focused his attention towards Alex next, which gave Ienzo some time to think. He always had a small crush on Myde. He thought it was Myde's eyes that attracted him. He easily got lost in them, corny as that sounds. Of course, his beautiful blonde hair didn't help matters, or his slightly muscular body, or his dedication to music…

"Ienzo? The bus is here," Myde informed him, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Oh, alright," replied Ienzo lamely.

Never could he think of witty comebacks when talking to Myde.

Ienzo followed Myde and Alex onto the bus, sitting with Alex in their typical seat five rows from the back. Myde sat on the right side next to them, so they could all talk. Ienzo got the window seat while Alex got the aisle seat.

Sitting down, Ienzo looked out the window, as he always did. Alex and Myde talked about whatever it was they were talking about. Sometimes, Ienzo would listen to their conversations, and sometimes even contribute if what Alex said was extremely off-the-wall, but most of the time he just became lost in thought. Today, he barely registered what went on around him, as he was hypnotized by the passing buildings and trees.

_Wakka flinched as the woman slit Tidus' throat. Blood splattered onto Wakka as the boy's scream turned into a gurgle. The woman dropped the blue-eyed child, a pool of blood forming quickly._

_Wakka's knees buckled. The malicious woman turned on her heels and calmly left the room. Tears streamed down Wakka's face as he went to touch Tidus. He reached out with trembling white hands. Caressing Tidus' white arm, he mourned over what had happened to his best friend._

_Tidus tried to take in breath, but it was impossible to do with the slash in his neck. He sat there gurgling while trying his hardest to reassure his friend that everything would be ok with his cloudy eyes. His skin turned a shade whiter with every second that passed, and Wakka tried his best to keep the warmth in him by sidling up close and rubbing Tidus' arms gently, getting Tidus' blood all over himself. As Tidus' eyes rolled back into his head, he managed to say in a hoarse, almost indecipherable voice, "I'm going… to get help."_

_With one last, terrible noise, Tidus died in a pool of his own blood._

_Wakka let out a heart wrenching wail. Realizing that he currently was kneeling in a pool of his friend's blood, he crawled back as fast as his body would take him and threw up all over the floor in front of him._

_When he was finished, he leaned against the wall, not caring how cold it was, curled up into a little ball and sobbed._

"Ienzo?"

Ienzo whipped his head around to see people getting off the bus, and his two friends staring at him in the oddest way. Alex has this wide-eyed stare, and Myde's eyes looked full of concern and fear. "What?"

"A-are you ok?" asked Myde.

"Sure… why?" Ienzo was the farthest from fine at the moment, but he couldn't understand how Myde would know that.

"You're crying… and you look like you've just seen a ghost. Are you alright?"

Quickly reaching his pale hand up to his cheek, he felt it wet with tears. Surprised at himself, he stared at his friends. "Did I say anything?"

"N-no… are you ok?" asked Alex concernedly.

"I'm fine…" surmised Ienzo as he rubbed his eyes dry. He tried to act normal, despite the horrible thoughts going through his mind. "Come on, the bus will drive away with us still on it if we don't hurry up."

Myde and Alex slowly stood up to get off the bus, looking back at their friend warily. Ienzo tried to forget what he saw and act normal, but it was becoming difficult. That was the second time he'd seen this 'dream' today, and he did not like it.

* * *

Alex turned off the TV with the remote control as he heard a scream from upstairs. This is the third time this week Ienzo has screamed in his sleep. Pulling his feet off the coffee table on which they were resting previously, he jumped up off the couch and raced up stairs, just like he had twice before.

Upon arriving upstairs, he quickly opened the door to Ienzo's room to find Ienzo tangled up in his blankets on the floor, thrashing around. Running over to his best friend, he grabbed him up and shook him. "Ienzo! Ienzo! Wake up! It's just a dream!"

Startled, Ienzo awoke. He scanned the room quickly and then looked at Alex with wide, shining eyes. He was breathing heavily. Ienzo had massive blue circles around his eyes, indicating lack of sleep. His hair was plastered to his forehead as his shirt was to his body by sweat. His cheeks were a vivid shade of pink while the rest of him was a sharp shade of white, adding to his sickly appearance.

"Ienzo, what is going on with you?" asked Alex, concern clearly etched into his voice.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." Ienzo replied shortly in between gasps of air.

"There's something wrong, I know there is. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine Alex!" Ienzo practically screamed as he shoved Alex away and stood up.

Ienzo walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Alex just watched him go. He felt terribly for his friend, and he needed a way to fix it. He got up slowly, walked downstairs, grabbed the phone, and called Myde.

* * *

Sitting with his back against the bathroom door, Ienzo sobbed. He cried and cried, until there was nothing left to shed. He didn't want to go to bed last night; he tried to watch TV the whole time, but Alex forced him to go upstairs to his room. He tried reading the night away, but got tired quickly, so he switched to pacing the room. Eventually, he had worn himself out and fell asleep once he sat down.

The dreams, they kept getting worse. The blonde lady, she'd been hurting Wakka. She'd been beating him with any and all objects she came in with. Wakka became sick from the cold he'd been exposed to. He coughed constantly now; his fingers, toes, ears, and lips were a dark shade of blue. The rest of his body was stark white.

Tidus' body still lay upon the floor, as if he had just recently died. The body did not decay in any visible way. However, the blood pool had dried; little pink crystals formed within the stain. Wakka stayed on the opposite side of the freezer room at all times.

Every dream, the blonde lady would walk in with something new, and either she would hit Wakka with it, or taunt him for a while, and then strike him. She would ask him questions that she knew he could not answer because he had lost the ability to speak properly shortly after Tidus died. Ienzo thought that if Wakka wasn't so cold and sick, he'd be able to defend himself very well against this petite lady. Again, Ienzo would wonder how the lady had gotten Wakka there in the first place.

Ienzo threw up into the toilet. He was tired of this. He just wanted some sleep, and some peace of mind. Now he didn't even get that any more!

"Hello?"

Ienzo whipped around to see a little boy standing behind him. Last time he checked, no little boys lived in his house. He stared at the boy, completely in shock. That couldn't be… Tidus?

"Ah, finally! You know how long it took me to find you?"

Ienzo just kept staring.

"Well, do you?"

A pause. "What the hell are you doing in my bathroom?!"

It was Tidus' turn to stare at Ienzo. "I thought it would be obvious."

"I'm sorry, but apparently it's not! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!"

Tidus backed slowly away from the blue-haired boy. "Y-you didn't send that blonde lady out to kill me… did you?"

Ienzo was astonished. "What? No! I don't even know you!"

"Well then how did you know I was dead?"

"Because you've been in my dreams for the past week! You and Wakka!" screamed Ienzo, clearly frustrated.

"Wakka? Is he ok? Is he alive still?" the concern in the little boy's eyes was obvious.

"He's alive, but he's not doing well," Ienzo couldn't believe this; he was talking to a dead boy! "It's too cold in that room for his body to handle. I don't know how much longer he can last."

"You have to help him, please…" little Tidus begged as he took slow steps towards Ienzo.

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Ienzo asked, frustrated.

"I don't know! That's your job! It took me a very long time to find someone to talk to! Now it's your turn to do something!" the little boy yelled.

"Alright, alright. Take it easy… I'll ask my friend Alex," replied Ienzo.

Leaving the bathroom, he walked quickly to the closet and threw on the first pair of clothes that were in reach. Tidus followed his every move. He ended up putting on a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. After putting on his shoes as well and tying them, he went downstairs.

* * *

Ienzo met yet another surprise as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Myde?"

"Hi Ienzo," Myde greeted. "Gosh, you look terrible."

"Gee, thanks Myde," Ienzo retorted sarcastically. "Alex, I need to talk to you."

"Well that's good, because we need to talk to you too," stated Alex.

"Alright, but me first, ok?" asked Ienzo.

"Sure," replied Alex.

"You know how I've been having bad dreams all this week?"

"Yes," Alex answered; Myde nodded as well.

"Well yea, so in the dreams, this kid Tidus and his friend Wakka are locked up in this huge freezer room, and this blonde chick kills Tidus and beats Wakka, and now Wakka's not doing so well because the room is too cold for his body to handle, and he could die. So yea, this kid," he motioned to Tidus, who was standing on the bottom step still. "Tidus, he found me in the bathroom and told me that I needed to help Wakka, and I don't know how to do it, so you guys gotta help me."

Alex and Myde stared at Ienzo with wide eyes and disbelieving expressions. "What are you just sitting there looking at me like that for? We have to help him!"

Alex was the first to get his voice back. "Ienzo… who are you talking about?"

Ienzo let out a frustrated noise and threw his hands behind him, indicating Tidus. "I'm talking about Tidus! He's only standing right in front of you!"

"Ienzo… th-there's no one there…" Myde stuttered out.

Ienzo's face fell. "There's not?"

Both Alex and Myde shook their heads slowly. Ienzo kept looking from his friends to Tidus, and back again. Slowly, he walked over to Tidus. Reaching out slowly, he tried to touch Tidus. ("Hey! What are you doing?" Tidus protested.)

But even with the complaint, Ienzo's hand went right through Tidus' torso. ("That hurts! Stop it!") Eyes wide with surprise and confusion, Ienzo turned back to his friends.

"What is wrong with me?" he asked, voice constricted with fear.

Myde got up and took Ienzo's hand in his. "Follow us, please?"

Ienzo could only nod in agreement.

Alex walked out the door, holding it open for Myde who was still grasping Ienzo's hand. Once outside, Ienzo barely registered that they were getting into a white car. He saw the blonde boy in the driver's seat kiss Alex, and realized that they were in Roxas' car. "Thanks so much for doing this for us, Roxas," acknowledged Alex.

"It's no problem at all," responded Roxas after a quick glance at Ienzo. "Off we go then."

Nervously, Ienzo asked, "Myde, what about school?"

"We're not going to school today," was Myde's reply.

Ienzo tried to think over Tidus' complaints, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. ("Ienzo, tell your friend to stop sitting on me! It hurts!") Where were they going if they weren't heading to school?

("Ienzo…") "STOP COMPLAINING, WOULD YOU?" Ienzo finally yelled as he glared at Tidus, who was coincidentally sitting under Myde, making everyone in the car jump. Myde shied away from Ienzo's glare and stuttered, "I d-didn't say anything…"

"Not you, Tidus," Ienzo rubbed his forehead. "He keeps complaining that you're hurting him by sitting on him."

Slightly scared but wanting to make Ienzo feel better, Myde unbuckled himself from the right side window seat and moved over to the middle. ("Phewf! That's better.") After fastening himself into his new seat, he asked Ienzo, "Is he better now?"

"Yes, thank you," Ienzo answered gratefully.

Myde smiled slightly as he seized Ienzo's hand in his once again. Ienzo noticed this kind gesture and smiled up at Myde.

Ienzo didn't remember much about the rest of the car ride because he was lost in his own thoughts. When he finally came to, they were parked outside a tall, white building with lots of large, glass windows and a clean sidewalk. "Where are we?" he asked.

Calmly and quietly, Myde explained. "Well, after Alex had called me this morning saying we needed to get you some help so you could sleep again; I called the school for their suggestions. The guidance counselor told me that we should come here, because one lady who works here specializes in these types of things. So, here we are."

"Myde, where is here?"

With an uneasy glance towards Alex, he replied, "This is the Mental Health Clinic."

"What? I'm not mental!" Ienzo yelped.

"We know, Ienzo," stated Alex. "But this is where the lady works. We have no choice."

"What is her name?" asked Ienzo.

"Her name is Namine," answered Myde.

"Not Dr. Namine?" retorted Ienzo sarcastically as he crossed his arms.

"Guess not," replied Alex. "Let's go."

Giving one final glare to Tidus ("Hey, it's not my fault the blonde lady kidnapped me!"), he followed Alex and Myde into the clinic.

* * *

"Namine is ready to see you now, Ienzo."

The secretary behind the huge, circular, wooden desk in the middle of the room motioned Ienzo into the next room where "the doctor" was. Glancing at all his friends, he got up and slowly and left the blue-walled room outlined in chairs with his hands in his pockets.

The maintenance workers must have left the air conditioning on by accident, because Ienzo thought the whole building was quite cold. While waiting in the waiting room, he tried his best just to sit still and silent, but it was difficult; especially when Myde was sitting to his immediate right with his arm on the shared armrest, tempting him with Myde's warmth. The fact that Tidus would not leave him alone didn't help much either. ("This place is boooring… when will we do something fun?") He would have liked nothing more than to just curl up in his crush's arms and forget this ever happened, but it seemed that was not meant to be.

Upon entering Namine's office, he was quite surprised at what he saw. Instead of the typical patient's bed and doctor's stool; there was a comfortable looking, red couch with a dark, wooden coffee table in front of it. On the table sat a potted plant and a closed sketchbook with a pencil nearby. On either side of the table were two black, leather armchairs. There was a large glass window on the right wall, with beautiful, heavy, blue curtains framing it. Opposite the glass window was a wooden door.

A woman with long, platinum blonde hair sat in the left armchair. Surprisingly enough, (he was surprised a lot today) she wore a pair of blue jeans with a quarter-sleeved, v-neck, white shirt. ("Wow, she's pretty.") No lab coat, no clip board. "Hello Ienzo," she greeted in a small, kind voice. "Please, sit down."

She motioned with her right hand towards the chair opposite her. "I like to start out facing each other. Then when we get to know each other, we could move to the couch if you like."

Ienzo shuffled to his seat and sat down. The chair was large so that Ienzo's thighs never touched either arm rest. The black leather felt cold on his exposed skin making it crawl. Shuddering slightly from the touch, he examined Namine more. She had big, brilliant blue eyes that seemed to peer down into his soul if he looked in them for too long. Her arms and legs were slender, and the clothes she wore accented her body nicely. She didn't yet have any lines blemishing her face, so she must not have been too old, early thirties tops.

"Alright," she started when she could see he was seated, "So, tell me what the problem is."

Ienzo gave her a blank look. "The… the problem?"

"Yes. What is bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me. My friends think I need help. They think I'm insane…"

"There has to be something bothering you, or else you wouldn't have been brought here in the first place, Ienzo." Namine explained. "Now, this time, without lying; tell me what's wrong."

"Well… can YOU see Tidus?" he asked, waving a hand towards the couch where Tidus had decided to sit.

"No, I'm afraid to say I can't. I'm sorry."

Sadness filled Ienzo. Would anyone ever believe him?

"How did Tidus find you?" asked Namine simply.

"Find…" She believed him? "Well… he doesn't know. I don't know either. I'd been having dreams about him and his friend Wakka all week, and he just appeared in my bathroom one morning… I'm not crazy, am I?" ("Does she know where Wakka is?")

Namine pondered this for a moment. "You don't look insane, but I won't know until after this session is over. So what happened in these dreams?"

Ienzo paled. He then explained everything he'd ever seen in any of his dreams. Namine sat there quite calmly and listened with great attention; when Ienzo had to pause to compose himself, she waited patiently.

After a good 20 minutes or so, Ienzo had finished his story. Pale and shaking, he held his knees close to his chest on the cold, leather chair. They sat in silence for about five minutes while Namine contemplated what was told to her.

Growing impatient, Ienzo snapped, "Can't you turn the heat on in here? It's freezing!"

"Hmm…" was all Namine spoke. She got up slowly; eyes clouded in thought, and walked passed Ienzo to the wooden door behind him. He watched her open up the door to find out it was a closet of sorts. Many boxes lay within filled with the oddest things, such as foam fingers and multi-colored tubes. Rummaging through a few of the boxes, she finally found what she had been looking for.

Walking back over to Ienzo, he could see that her eyes were clear again. She handed him a neatly folded, blue blanket. She replied to his questioning look, "Most of the things in the closet are used to either help me to figure out what is wrong with a patient or help cure them. This is usually used for the children who come in here; it makes them feel safer to have something to hold."

Ienzo shrugged and then quickly wrapped the blanket around himself. Warmth started to seep down his back, giving him goose bumps. "Thank you," he quietly spoke.

Namine shrugged it off with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now, about your dilemma," she paused. "I would like to try a few things to figure out if this entire story is just a figment of your imagination, or if it is actually happening."

"Of course it isn't a figment of my imagination! How could it?" Ienzo shouted.

"Well, we won't know until I try a few things. It could be any number of things."

"Fine," Ienzo responded reluctantly. "So what do we do first?"

"Well… I'm not particularly sure," she replied.

Ienzo's jaw dropped. "You're not sure??"

"What does your friend have to say about things?" asked Namine.

Ienzo turned to Tidus, noticing he was incredibly silent. The child was sitting exactly as he was, but staring into space. "Tidus?" Ienzo asked unsurely.

"Is he here still?" questioned Namine.

"Yea, he's here. Tidus, are you alright?"

Tidus slowly looked over at Ienzo. "Did…did that really all happen?"

Ienzo nodded slowly. "Yes, it did Tidus. I'm sorry."

Tidus looked down at his feet. Soon after, he looked up again. "Ienzo! You've got to help him! You've got to help Wakka!" he screamed.

"We will Tidus, Namine and I. I promise."

"What did he say?" questioned Namine.

"He's upset about Wakka. He wants us to find him and save him," replied Ienzo wearily.

"Well, if he does exist, we will certainly try our hardest. Now, if you don't mind Ienzo, I would like you to lie down on the couch."

Too weary to argue, Ienzo slowly got up and did what he was told. Tidus moved to the chair that Ienzo had vacated without a word. His head resting on the left armrest, he looked over at Namine for more instructions.

"Alright then, Tidus is sitting on the chair now, right?" asked Namine.

Ienzo nodded. He felt his eyelids become heavier.

"Tidus, what are your parent's names?"

Ienzo related the names Tidus gave to Namine. He yawned. Lying down now, he realized how tired he was. Namine asked where Tidus lived, and Ienzo translated Tidus' answer again. She asked if Tidus knew where Wakka lived, and he told her. A few more basic questions like this passed similarly.

"How old are you Tidus?"

She never received the reply, because Ienzo had fallen asleep.

* * *

Namine walked out of her office and closed the door behind her slowly. Two boys got up quickly as she entered the waiting room; she assumed that these were Ienzo's friends. Before addressing them, she attended to the secretary. She walked up to the big circular desk and asked, "If you wouldn't mind, please look up the name Tidus Zanarkand in the Missing Persons Report and see if he is listed. Also, the name Wakka Besaid if you please."

The secretary immediately started click-clacking away on her computer, searching for the two names. Satisfied, Namine turned to the two standing teenagers, and the one sitting one. "Is he ok?" asked the standing blonde.

Namine responded, "I think he is, but I won't know for sure until I examine him again. He is sleeping right now."

"You got him to sleep? Congratulations… it took me a couple hours at least to just get him into his room, and you've only had him for about a half hour," stated the redhead.

"I didn't do anything. I merely instructed him to lie on the couch and tell me what Tidus was telling him, and he fell asleep on his own. I only hope that his dreams aren't interrupted. He looks as if he needs a good couple of hours of sleep."

"He does, he's barely slept all week," replied the redhead.

"And what are your names again?" asked Namine.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Alex, and this is Myde. And over there is Roxas," Alex pointed as he introduced each of them.

"It is nice to meet all of you. As you know, I am Namine."

"Thank you for helping Ienzo," Myde gratefully affirmed.

"That is what I'm here for. I'm happy to help," Namine paused. "Now, I'm going to tell you what I plan to do. If Ienzo wakes up, and he doesn't see Tidus anymore, and he doesn't have any nightmares, I'm going to assume that this was all due to a lack of sleep, and that he is fine. Since he has told me of everything that happened in all of his dreams, it might just be that he needed someone to talk to, because he'd been bottling it up. If he wakes up and Tidus is still there, I am going to assume that what Ienzo is dreaming about is truly happening, and in that scenario, we will need to call the police and help stop this woman from torturing more people. Currently, my secretary is looking up the names of these two people in the Missing Persons Report, so we should hopefully find out shortly if these people do, in fact, exist. If, however, Tidus and Wakka do not exist, we will be forced to assume that there is something psychologically wrong with Ienzo, and he will need to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for care."

As the teens took in this information, Namine walked back over to the secretary's desk and leaned against it with her arms folded. Slowly, they all followed. The secretary, feeling a bunch of sets of eyes on her, hurried in her work and finally came up with an answer.

"Tidus Zanarkand has been missing since the tenth of October, a week and two days ago. He was last seen getting off the bus that brings him home from school. His mother filed the report twenty four hours after she had gotten home on the tenth and realized that Tidus wasn't there. He hasn't been found yet.

Wakka Besaid has been missing since the eighth of October, a week and four days ago. He was last seen leaving his work place. His boss filed the report 72 hours after Wakka had left work to go home because he never called saying he would be absent for those next two days. He hasn't been found yet."

A silence settled over the room. Now they knew the truth.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed that! I know I left a bit of a cliff hanger, but most of the ends are tied. Plus, I had gotten tired of writing and I had run out of plot. I do plan on writing a sequel eventually though, so worry not!**

**P.S- The blonde woman IS Larxene. I can't remember if I mentioned that.**

**Please! Don't forget to review and rate it out of 10, and check back at my profile to find out when Kenthel posts her story so you can review hers! Thank you so much! 3**


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